


Enemy of my enemy

by ImaginaRose



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 08:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17895092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaginaRose/pseuds/ImaginaRose
Summary: Led by a painful realisation about his family, Zuko decides to help the Avatar and joins the Gaang after the Blue Spirit episode.





	1. The Blue Spirit

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by posts of @atlawritingprompts on Tumblr.

Zuko looked at the swords on the wall. The message came in just minutes before. If the captain didn’t take it, he probably would have burned it before reaching the signature.

That smug…

But it was obvious, wasn’t it? He should have known Zhao would be the one to win their little personal competition.

He left the command deck immediately and headed for his room. There still was a chance…

He never even stood a chance.

Where was the honor in sneaking around masked, stealing what he couldn’t get on his own?

Where was the honor in trying to appease someone, who marked him for life as unworthy?

He wanted to punch something.

He heard the door open and someone stepping in.

“Prince Zuko, you can’t lose hope,” his uncle tried to encourage him.

“I’ve been thinking uncle… my father never really cared, had he?” His voice was silent, betraying him as he spoke the treacherous words. “It was pointless.”

“I don’t think he did.” His uncle replied. He couldn’t force himself to turn around. “Are you going to give up?”

“I’m not.” he shook his head. The light blue stone with blue ribbon was heavy on his wrist. “But I’m not sure I can continue either.”

“So, what _are_ you going to do?”

 _Something stupid_.

“I don’t know.” he sighed. “Something. Anything.”

“You have a plan?”

“Maybe…” Could he tell him?

“I want you to know… I won’t stand in your way. Whatever you decide to do.”

“Even if it was technically treason?”

“Especially.” Iroh walked into the room and closed the door. “But don’t tell that to anyone.”

“My father won’t ever have me back – and the only person worse than him… in any way… is Azula.” Zuko continued. “I can’t leave the world to them.”

“That’s a wise choice.” Iroh nodded. Zuko finally turned around, clutching the blue necklace. “Be careful. What you’ll be doing is dangerous. And you know my brother is far from the most forgiving person around.”

Zuko nodded, thoughtlessly touching the scar on his face.

“It’s not like I have much more to lose, is it?”

“You may not. But I do.” Iroh smiled and hugged him. “I don’t think I could handle losing you, too.”

“Uncle… you don’t have to say it…” Zuko muttered, knowing way too well, what his uncle meant to say.

“I do.” Iroh smiled, as he let him go. “Ever since I lost my son… I though of you as my own.

“I know.” Zuko nodded. “Thank you. For everything.”

***

_The forest was close. Just a little further._

_The Avatar was shaking slightly from fear._

_Just a little further and they would disappear in the forest._

_But they didn’t make it_.

The birds were singing. And someone was talking – the Avatar. He only caught last few sentences of whatever the boy was saying.

“You know what the worst part of being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?”

Zuko blinked. His head still hurt – something must have hit him really hard. Or fast. Or both.

“Maybe.” he replied, sitting up, massaging the side of his head. “What happened?”

“You got hit in the head by an arrow.” Aang replied. “It broke the mask.”

Zuko looked next to himself, where his swords and pieces of the mask laid.

“And you dragged me away?” he asked in surprise.

“And waited for you to wake up.” Aang nodded. “You saved my life. I owed you that much.”

“From what I know about Zhao, death would be the last thing to happen to you.” he mentioned, sheathing the swords.

“He mentioned something like that, yes.” Aang nodded.

“Where are we?” Zuko asked.

“In the forest. I couldn’t get that far.”

“They’ll look for us here soon.”

“Us?”

“Well… what I did does consider high treason.” Zuko explained. “I want to help you.”

“Why?”

“Because once it turned out I actually had a chance of capturing you, my father gave Zhao everything he asked for and then some to do it first.” Zuko replied. “It’s clear he doesn’t want me to come back. So, why try?”

“So, you join _us_?” Aang asked him in surprise.

He finally stood up, looking around. His bag wasn’t far.

“Yes.” he replied, heading for the place where he hid it. Aang followed, curious look on his face. “It’s the only way I can change anything.”

He found his bag, covered hastily by leaves and sticks and pulled it over his shoulder.

“I’d be glad to have you on the team. But I’m not sure how Katara and Sokka are gonna feel about it.”

“I’ll do my best.” Zuko smirked a bit. The kid’s positivity seemed to be contagious.

***

“I’ll starts a fire.” Zuko offered and looked at the boy. Aang nodded and walked to his friends with the frogs.

Zuko pulled down the hood of his clothes and put more wood into the now-cold firepit. With a single movement, he lit the wood on fire.

The couple begun coughing and spat out the frogs.

“Thanks for the help Aang, but I think I still have hallucinations.” Sokka muttered, wiping his eyes, crawling out of the sleeping bag.

“No, I see him too.” Katara assured him. “Aang… what happened?”

“It’s… a long story. I went to the nearby monastery to find a cure. And this old lady sent me down to the swamp for the frozen frogs – but I got caught my these super precise archers.”

“Yuayn archers.” Zuko added, looking through his bad. His hair was out of his ponytail, so it would fit under the hood and he was pretty sure it must have looked positively ridiculous.

“Whatever they’re called.” Aang waved his hand. After wading in the cold water, it wasn’t the worst thing to have around. “They caught me and dragged me into Zhao’s fortress.”

Katara and Sokka looked at each other.

“That’s why you took so long…” Katara looked outside. The sky was dark gray, the morning sun gone. Aang was gone for almost a whole day. “I shouldn’t have been so angry.”

“And what about him? How is he involved?” Sokka asked. Zuko finally found the hair tie and pulled his hair back again. He didn’t seem to mind them.

“He saved me.” Aang explained. “We escaped Zhao’s fortress and almost got into the forest. Before those archers took him out. So I dragged him into the woods, before they could get to us.”

“I think I forgot to say thank you for that.” Zuko finally spoke up again. “So, thank you.”

“No problem.” Aang assured him. “When he woke up, he said he wanted to join us.”

“You got hit into the head pretty hard, didn’t you?” Sokka looked at him, reaching for his boomerang.

“It was the plan all along.” Zuko assured him. “I promised Aang an explanation, so I will tell it to all of you.”

“What explanation could there be?” Katara asked, taking a sip of water from the pouch, before passing it to Sokka.

“I think I should start from the beginning. I’m not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me. I don’t want that.” he shook his head. “I just want you to understand, why I’m doing this.”

“Just say it.” Sokka sighed, taking the water pouch from Katara.

“Fine. About three years ago, I went to a war meeting for the first time. I was about thirteen, and I hoped to prove myself to my father – and learn about running the country, since I was the primary heir.” Zuko looked into the flames. “I was just supposed to sit there and listen, but I heavily disagreed with one of the generals and said so… a little too vocally. The general took offence to what I said and honor demanded it was settled by Agni-Kai. A firebending duel. I thought I was going to fight some old general, who didn’t have to bend in a fight for longer than I was alive… but I was wrong.”

Katara noticed Zuko clutched his fist, but he didn’t his anger show otherwise. The flames seemed to feel it, too, as they have risen a bit. Their heat reached much further.

“ _An insult in Fire Lord’s war room is an insult to Fire Lord himself_ ,” he said, almost like he repeated something once told to him. “And I couldn’t fight my own father. Backing out of Agni-Kai, or refusing to fight in it, is considered a great dishonor and cowardice.”

Almost thoughtlessly, he touched the scar on his face.

“My father burned me and banished me. Only way I could ever return was by bringing the Avatar with me.” Aang flinched away. “Which was seen as an impossible task. And until recently, it was.”

Zuko sighed.

“And once it proven possible, he sent Zhao with everything he could need and want for the hunt. _Because it’s highest priority task, that can’t just be given to a unreliable teenager_.” Zuko almost spat out the last sentence.

“You’re doing this to spite your dad?” Sokka looked at him in surprise.

“You can say it that way.” Zuko admitted.

“Your father made you that scar?” Katara asked. She seemed angry and somewhat… pitying at the same time.

Zuko nodded. “I told you I don’t want your sympathy.”

“That’s messed up.” Katara shook her head. “Next level messed up.”

“That’s not even a level.” Sokka nodded. “That’s thousand feet over the highest level.”

Zuko just looked at them. Just a minute ago, they were staring at him in contempt and mistrust. But now… they were angry. About what his father did to him.

He turned to his bag, looking through the things he brought. From the few pieces of clothing and a bag of food stuck out a blueish tube, tied around with a dark blue ribbon.

“I believe this is yours.” he said, as he untied it and handed Katara the necklace. She stared at it. “I know it means a lot to you. I’m sorry I took it.”

Katara didn’t say anything, just tied it around her neck.

“Thanks.” she smiled a bit.

“And… I brought you this. I thought you might find it useful.” he said, as he handed her the light blue scroll. “My uncle studied waterbending. He had several, but I only had time to take this one.”

“Waterbending scroll?” she carefully took it and opened it. It was definitely a different one than the one they were using. “This is really great.”

“Right. Great.” Aang nodded. “I should get some sleep before we take off. I didn’t get much tonight.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him.” Sokka assure Aang, as the boy jumped up on Appa’s back.

***

Katara fell asleep, soon, too. The two guys remained awake by the campfire. Zuko pulled out his swords and started cleaning them.

“Hey… Just so you know, I still don’t like you. And I don’t trust you. Aang is naïve, that he does.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else.” Zuko shrugged his shoulders. “I was surprised by the way you reacted.”

“It’s horrible. You know, in the Water Tribe, family is the most important thing you have – your family and your Tribe. Hurting one’s family… that’s unthinkable. Especially like that. I can’t imagine not being able to trust my own family.”

“It sounds great.”

“In that way, definitely.” Sokka nodded. “Our father, and most of the other men, left the Tribe two years ago – to join the war. I was the oldest guy left in the village. Only one left to defend it.”

“I saw that.” Zuko couldn’t help but smirk, before putting his swords away again.

“I tried, okay.”

“I’m not denying that.” Zuko assured him. “Actually, I wanted to ask you about something.”

“Okay. About what?”

“I happen to know a bit about Water tribe culture – from my uncle. And I know that that necklace is a betrothal necklace. If you were the only man our age left in your tribe…”

“What? I didn’t even know that.” Sokka shook his head. “It belonged to our Grandma once. Our Tribe isn’t much in terms of tradition, ever since the war. Maybe not even before that.”

“Oh… I thought…” Zuko blushed a bit and scratched his neck. Sokka almost burst out laughing, but tried to still himself, so he wouldn’t wake up the sleeping couple.

“You have a lot to learn.”


	2. Bato of the Water Tribe

They walked along the shore, on a forest path.

“The pass should be just a little further west. There should be an abbey at the start of it, so it shouldn’t be hard to find.” Sokka said.

“And then we can fly again?”

“There’s many colonies around here. Someone around could notice. The pass should be safe to fly over, but then we’ll have walk again.”

“We never had to be this careful.”

“There’s less colonies down south.” Zuko shrugged his shoulders, looking a Sokka.

“He’s right. And unless we want to fly for a week straight over uninhabited mountains, this is the best path.”

“Fine, fine, you two know maps and I’m just an airhead.”

“I didn’t say that. Did you?” Zuko looked at Sokka.

“No.” Sokka shook his head.

“Hey, what’s that?” Aang suddenly squealed and jumped down the slope to the shore. “A sword made out of whale’s tooth?

Sokka followed down. They slowly followed. Sokka stared at the weapon, before taking it from Aang.

“This is Water Tribe.” Sokka said. “See if you can find anything else.”

“Did you lose something? Katara asked curiously, sliding down from Appa’s back.

“No, we found something!” Aang announced excitedly and led them over the bend – there were several more things, that seemed to indicate, that a battle has happened.

“It’s burned.” Sokka said, bending down to one of the spears. “There was a battle! Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders.”

Sokka gesticulated wildly, following an ash trail.

“The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill.”

They got to a beach.

“So, then what happened?” Aang asked.

“I don’t know. The trail ends here.” Sokka admitted.

“You might be overdramatizing it.” Zuko pointed out.

“Said the drama-prince.”

“Wait… look!” Katara pointed to rock formation on a beach. Behind it was visible a sail bearing the Water Tribe symbol. They ran closer.

“It’s one of our boats!” Sokka smiled wide.

“Is this dad’s boat?” Katara asked, as they got closer to the ship.

“No, but it’s from his fleet.” Sokka walked to the ship, brushing the boat’s side. “Dad was here.”

***

They set up a camp. The sky got dark fast. They were getting further up north and it was dark early.

“Isn’t the abbey just a little further? We could have made it there.” Aang pointed out.

“Aang, our dad has left for the war over two years ago. This is the most we’ve known about him in that time.” Katara sighed. “The ship seems to be in good condition. There might be someone around taking care of it.”

“Right…” Aang sighed. “I’ve been thinking about something…”

A strange noise interrupted Aang’s sentence. Sokka snapped out his trance, standing up with his boomerang in hand. Zuko reached for his swords.

“Who’s there?” Sokka shouted into the darkness.

A man stepped out of the shadows. He seemed to be about middle-aged, obviously from Water tribe. His torso was visibly bandaged.

“Sokka?” the man asked.

“Bato?” Sokka smiled.

“Who?” Aang asked.

“Bato.” Katara stood up and smiled, too.

“Sokka, Katara, it’s good to see you two.” The man smiled, too, and hugged the two of them. “You’ve grown so much.”

“Hi, I’m Aang.” the airbender introduced himself, getting ignored.

“Where’s dad?”

“Is he here?”

“No, the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now.” the man – Bato – shook his head. A gust of wind blew past them, the three Water Tribe members shook. “This is no place for a reunion. Let’s get back inside.”

Zuko turned back to their camp, waving his hand. The fire went out and he quickly followed the leaving group.

The got to the abbey – it was really close.

“After I was wounded, your father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since. Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They've been traveling with the Avatar. I found them by my boat.” Bato introduced them.

“Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey.” The Mother Superior greeted Aang. Then, she looked at him curiously but didn’t say anything.

***

The hut seemed quite cozy. The walls and floors were covered by animal pelts and there was a small fire inside.

“Bato, it looks like home!” Katara looked around.

“Everything’s here, even the pelts.” Sokka added.

“Yeah, nothing’s cozier than dead animal skins.” Aang sighed.

They sat down.

“I don’t mean to be prying, but I can’t help but wonder – who is the last one of your group.” Bato looked at Zuko.

Their group looked at each other.

“My name is Lee. I’m… local. I’m helping them along the pass.” he spoke up, repeating the cover story from previous village.

“No way. Stewed sea prunes!” Katara shouted a little too excitedly, as she opened the pot hanging over the fire.

“Help yourself.” Bato offered them. Katara begun passing along bowls of the thing.

“Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things.” Sokka mentioned. Aang sniffed the food, then put it away.

Zuko took a bowl and looked at it. It seemed like something in between a soup and a mash. He gave it a try.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as Aang made it out to be.

The discussion trailed off to some of the misadventures of Bato and the father of the siblings. He found himself smiling along with them.

He wished he had that.

***

“There’s something I should tell you kids. I’m expecting a message from your father.” Bato said after a while.

“Really?” Katara asked.

“When?” Sokka followed up.

“Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait until the message arrives, you can come with me, and see your father again.” Bato told them.

“It’s been over two years since we’ve seen Dad. That would be so incredible, Katara.” Sokka seemed excited.

“I do really miss him. It would be great to see Dad.” Katara added. Zuko noticed Aang leaving the hut.

“It’s been far too long, hasn’t it?” Bato nodded. “I’m not sure, when the word will arrive, but when it does…”

“It would be great, but we can’t.” Sokka interrupted the older man. Zuko tensed a little. “We have to take Aang to the North Pole first.”

“Even if we do have the time to wait for the message, who knows, how far we’d have to travel. We don’t have the time for a long detour.” Katara added.

“I'm sure your father would understand and be proud that his children are helping the Avatar.” Bato smiled at them.

Zuko put the empty bowl next to the rest of the dishes.

***

“This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father.” Bato mentioned, as the walked to the ship.

“Is this the boat he took you ice dodging in?” Sokka asked.

“Yep! It's got the scar to prove it. Ha. How 'bout you Sokka? You must have some good stories from your first time ice dodging.” Bato smiled at the boy. Sokka looked away.

“He never got to go. Dad left before he was old enough.” Katara explained.

“Oh… I forgot you were too young.” Bato said apologetically.

“What’s ice dodging?” Zuko asked.

“It's a rite of passage for young Water Tribe members. When you turn fourteen, your dad takes you- You know what, you're about to find out!”

The man seemed excited and looked at Sokka, Katara and then Zuko. “You three, come with me.”

Katara looked back at Aang.

“Why us?” Katara asked Bato.

“He’s still a child.” Bato shrugged his shoulders. “Come on.”

***

“Ice dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery, and trust. In our village, ice dodging was done by weaving a boat through a field of icebergs.” Bato begun explaining, as they got on the ship.

“How are we supposed to ice dodge without ice?” Sokka pointed out the obvious issue.

“You’ll be dodging those.” Bato pointed to rock formation near the shore. Their trio looked at each other. “Sokka, you steer and call the shots, lead wisely. Katara, you secure the main sail. The winds can be brutal, so be brave. And Lee, you control the jib. Without your steady hand, we all go down. Your position is about trust.”

They each took their position.

“For this to be done right, I cannot help.” Bato added, as he sat down in the back of the ship. Zuko noticed that the Avatar watched them from above on his bison. He took a deep breath. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well.

To his surprise, it seemed to go well. Their ship sailed without as much a scratch through the rocks.

“Great job.” Sokka grinned.

Bato nodded and stood up.

“Now, let’s get back.”

***

They stood on the shore. Katara was all smiles. Aang landed not far from them, running to them.

“That looked awesome.” he congratulated Sokka. Zuko noticed the boy gave him a strange look.

“The spirits of water, bear witness to these marks. For Sokka, the Mark of the Wise. The same mark your father earned. For Katara, the Mark of the Brave. Your courage inspires us. And for Lee, the Mark of the Trusted. You are now an honorary member of the Water Tribe.”

“Thank you.” Zuko said with a smile. Aang begun walking away.

“You know, I had a bit of doubts with you back there, but… you really proved yourself.” Sokka grinned.

“I think I should be grateful I even had the chance.” Zuko shrugged his shoulders. “I had my own doubts about you.”

“Hey… I’m more than just a clown.”

“Thank you Bato… for taking us to do this.” Katara said. “But we should get going.”

“Right.” Sokka nodded, looking at Aang. “Is Appa ready?”

“I’ll go check it out.” Aang said and ran to his bison. Something dropped from his sleeve. Katara curiously picked it up. It was some kind of paper…

“This is the map to our father!” Sokka exclaimed, as he looked at it. “Aang…”

The boy stopped, staring at them wide eyed.

“You have to understand! I was afraid you would…” Aang raised his hands defensively.

“You had it the whole time?” Sokka asked the boy, furious. “How could you?! Well, you can go to the North Pole on your own. I’m going to find Dad.”

“Sokka… I’m sure Aang can explain it. Just let him.” Katara interjected. She sounded angry, too.

“Katara’s right. Let him explain it.” Zuko joined her. “Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding.”

Sokka growled. “Fine.”

“I… I’m sorry… I just… I’ve heard you were talking about going with Bato to see your father and I… was worried you’d leave me.”

Katara looked at Sokka. “Aang… we wouldn’t just leave you.” She shook her head. “You didn’t have to hide this from us.”

“You really messed up with this.” Sokka sighed. “But we’ll have to finish this, won’t we?”

He looked at Katara.

“let’s get back to the packing.” Katara suggested. “Bato, could we take some of the supplies?”

“Of course.” Bato nodded. “I can’t exactly carry them with me anyway.”

“Thanks.” she smiled. “Z… Lee, would you help me with them?”

“Sure.”

Aang stood there, visibly ashamed. Sokka begun feeling bad about shouting at the kid.

“The rendezvous isn’t that far.” Sokka pointed out, looking at the map. “But it still is too far for us.”

“Where did you say you’d be heading next?” bato asked, as the two of them headed back to the abbey. Aang already headed back.

“Through the mountain pass, further north. And Aang insisted we visit the Northern Air temple, so we’ll need to go there, before we head to the North Pole.”

“Further north is many colonies.” Bato pointed out. “You’ll have to be careful there, if you don’t want to attract any attention.”

“We know. Z… Lee’s been a great help with this.” Sokka nodded. “He… knows quite a lot about the Fire Nation.”

“He looks like it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He looks Fire Nation.” Bato shrugged his shoulders.

“You said it yourself. There’s a bunch of colonies around.” Sokka said quickly. Of course, Bato noticed. He’s been fighting the Fire Nation longer than Sokka himself was alive.

“That’s a good point.” Bato nodded. “We should go and get ready for the way.”

***

“We’re having sea prunes _again_?” Aang asked, disgusted.

“Kid… you’re not really in position to be picky today.” Sokka mentioned.

“I’m sure the sisters won’t mind sharing some of their diner with you.” Bato mentioned. “They aren’t exactly fond of Water tribe cuisine themselves.”

“Fine.” Aang nodded and got up, heading for abbey’s main building. “I’ll go ask. I can come back here, right?”

“Sure.” Bato nodded. Aang almost ran to the abbey. “Sokka, have you decided, where you’ll be going?”

“I’ll go with them. Making sure Aang gets safely to the Northern tribe is more important than seeing dad.”

“Maybe we could write him a letter.” Katara suggested. “Bato, you wouldn’t mind taking it with you, right?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Bato nodded. “I’m sure your father will be proud of you.”

***

“Don’t forget to say hi to dad from us.” Sokka said, as he got up on Appa.

“I won’t.” Bato chuckled. “Safe journey to you.”

“You too, Bato!” Katara smiled from Appa’s back. Sokka got in and Aang looked back on them.

“Everyone holding? Appa, yip, yip.”

The siblings kept waving, until they too far to see the abbey.

Sokka kept staring at the disappearing shoreline.

“Sokka… you know nobody would blame you, if you went with Bato.” Katara mentioned.

“And leave you two in care of _him_?” he pointed at Zuko. “Not gonna happen.”

“I’ll try and not be insulted.”


End file.
